Freeing ourselves from faith is so empowering. Our view of life is opened and the problems we face become solvable through thought, science and cooperation.
Christopher you don't know Jehovah.Judges 9 New International Version Abimelek 9 Abimelek son of Jerub-Baal went to his mother’s brothers in Shechem and said to them and to all his mother’s clan, 2
@@matthew3136modern science was birthed in a Christian university and hospitals were born because of people following Christ words about doing charitable acts. Tending the sick. Watch Jesus, the Game Changer and get back to me.
I went to strict Catholic school, we were taught fear. At about 10 I saw the light, stopped believing, now I don’t live with that fear, I feel liberated. I still believe in kindness towards my fellow humans, I try to do no wrong, love most people, do my best to be a better person. It does not take religion to teach me that.
True. Marcus Aurelius and the Stoics are a great guide to how men can live noble useful lives without the need for religion. They accepted the existence of the universe and wete reconciled to make the best of the puny lives we are granted by the force of nature.
@@dannym5598 All scriptures including the Quran came out of the mouths of men and were written down by the hands of men and were compiled and edited by yet other men. No god has ever been seen writing anything.
I guess he must have been impressive in person because he certainly is not brilliant or intellectually honest. The fact most of his fans are atheists may impact whether his errors can be identified easily. He is more impressive when you agree with him.
It's so good he left us so much wisdom to continue to learn from. I've only discovered him in recent years, so I'm glad and proud to be taking in these wise words, and keeping his legacy alive.
@@MadHax-wt5tl The equivalent of a Satan's Personifications MOUTHPIECE as in THE ABSENCE OF GOD IN THE HEART AND MIND OF MAN. Enjoy the "LAKE OF FIRE" first thing you will when you "Kaput". HE REALLY DON'T NEED you "Belief" in HIM, "BREATH" no charge, true "FREEDOM" with missed Lessons and all.
@@MadHax-wt5tl Like George Carlin, he went Uh-oh, 3 seconds if that after he "Kaput" when he learned he was plucked out of HELL, left the "LAKE OF FIRE" and his abundant Satan colleagues hiding behind an INDOCTRINATION of their skin color and it's variations.
@@lightatthecape2009 you don't have to be brilliant to be an atheist. You don't have to be a scientist or a philosopher. Its the evidence lacking that makes me a non believer. I wish some times there was a god who cared and loved. I guess I'll find out when I die.
Here is a dose of reasoning. What have I really lost by believing in God and by trying to live a good moral life? I have lost Nothing. But if I am right in what I believe then you have lost eternal life for believing what you choose to believe;. which is not in God. And to that I would say: That is a pretty big price to pay for your unbelief. Beloved: We can not save, convict or convience anyone of the truth. All we can do is share with others what we have been shown if they are receptive to it and then it is between them and the Holy Spirit as to whether or not that person will chooses to believe or not what was shared. It is the Holy Spirit who guides a person into the truth, and convicts them of the truth if they are receptive to it, not us. And it is Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit who draws all men unto Himself if they are willing. To debate the issue for the sake of debate is a waste of time. If a person is not seeking the truth they will not find it. Therefore they will not believe. if you seek the Lord your God who is Jesus Christ with all your heart, mind and soul you will find him. Our mission is to study the word of God so that we can share the word of God with those who are receptive to it Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ with all of thy heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. Is part of being receptive to the truth. Rom 8:28-30 And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. 29For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified
Hitches does not make the top 10 thinkers, philosophers or authors. His God is Not Great contains so many blatant errors that it seems no one bothered editing the mss. I stopped counting at 24 errors others have identified some I missed. He was a piss poor researcher, who plagiarized others work, as well as being a bully who was prone to demonizing those he disliked. Perhaps his saving grace was his ability to produce pithy retorts. Religious belief is not considered delusional by any professional mental health association anywhere on the planet. His opinion is his own and often conflicts with hard facts and data.
@@lightatthecape2009you can’t demonize someone when you don’t believe in demons. There are likely millions of people who agree with his philosophy so his opinions are not just his own. Your ignorance is perhaps exceeded only by your extreme bias.
@@kurtdvet I recommend you drop the hero worship and learn to think a bit more independently. Hitchens has been criticized by atheists and theists because of sloppy research, plagiarism, and lack of balance.
If you follow hitchens you will be with him one day. The Bible calls for the shedding of blood ..Jesus became our sacrifice. And I'm not talking about religion I'm talking about a relationship with Jesus. You know the Bible affirms entropy and the first and second laws of thermodynamics among many other issues that scientist have only found out a few hundred years ago or so. The Earth is circular we are told in the Bible and it free floats on nothing we are also told. If you want to follow this fool go right ahead I'll pray for you right now.
@@kenlott263 You are psychological delusional, and I know you cannot understand true logic and common sense. The bible is analogy and not a historical document and why I chose not to follow it. If you were to study real anthropology outside the walls of your belief system then you would know Hell was an invention of the first pope of Rome....so I am not worried and thanx for your worthless prayers.
12:06 The essence of Christopher Hitchens on the matter of religion lies not in what he says (for it has all been said before, albeit in poorer, less succinct and less eloquent style) but how he says it. His gift for summation, for clarity and for sheer linguistic brilliance are, I believe, unequaled. Certainly at least, never bettered.
There was no specific day or epiphany, but since youth I questioned the entire concept of God and religion. The hate that is inherent in most organized religions/churches/faith served to drive me even further away. My study of science and engineering laid bare the truth. I miss the comfort of believing in God, but cannot ignore the truth.
Same. I dont think you NEED an epiphany if you knew the real thing in your heart the whole time. For me it was like an allergy to something finally went away. Imagine my entire community had red itchy skin or a runny nose all day and told me this is NORMAL. Then I just moved to a place where they didnt plant that flower or whatever and I woke up clear headed. A little scared cause I was used to my tissue box and Zyrtec habbit, but...clear
At 15 I read the Bible out of desperation to believe, as I had been brainwashed since a kid to believe in God. None of it made sense, and it was always an excuse, "because God" after two baptisms, and months of 1 on 1s with preachers going nowhere, I read the Bible. I was convinced by the Bible, that God isn't real, and neither is organized religion. Most Christians have never read the Bible cover to cover, because that would expose their mind to the lunacy, and depravity in the bible
I can see that faith in a God is a comfort for some people, but it is a very childlike concept. The parallels with believing in Santa Claus are all there, a benevolent magical father figure, who knows about everything you do, and only bestows gifts on you if you behave. If you still truly believed in Santa as an adult you would need some serious help, and yet religious belief is socially accepted and devoting your life to an invisible friend in the sky is still accommodated as normal. Seems we will be forever dragged back to the ignorance of our ancestors by revered religious texts that make a virtue of not questioning them.
I did have an epiphany. It was in my twenties and I had always been a devout Christian. One day I was praying and I had the revelation that there was no god of any kind anywhere. Nothing. It took me several years of anguished searching to work out a moral code for myself that was not based on Christianity.
I remember my college teacher was writing a book on Hitler to publish. He visited Spandau prison and interviewed one of Hitlers hench men Rudolf Hess. he asked him why he followed Hitler. Hess's response is telling as why people do horrible things in the name of Religion or a tyrant. he said, You could not understand Hitler you had to feel him. In other words it was an emotional attachment that circumvented logic and reason. No different than religion of any kind. The Catholics say give us your young child, you can have them back but they will always be ours.
I am grateful for this man. I was never religious at all in my life but he took me to the position on Anti-theist. The fact that not only is religion almost certainly wrong but the fact that it’s dangerous and seriously immoral. Thank you Christopher Hitchens.
@@uthman2281 well yes mine and many others. For example mutilating the genitals of children for religious reasons is immoral as it’s done make sex less enjoyable and also the fact that the child can’t consent to it. Let’s see what else oh yes the fact that the catholic church stated that condoms could spread HIV aids which is obvious nonsense. Teaching children that if they turn out to be gay they will go to hell and burn forever. To teach junk science especially in America like creationism instead of evolution despite all the evidence being in evolution’s favour. Final reason why I’m an Anti-theist and why most atheists will be is that we don’t want it to be true that there is a supreme being who makes you, owns you, supervises you waking and sleeping. Who knows your personal most private thoughts and can convict you of thought crime for that not only while you are awake but while you are sleeping. As Hitchens said “A celestial North Korea” why does anyone wish this was true? If you somehow think any of the above is good and not immoral or dangerous then I will avoid you definitely.
When i lost my faith at age 17, I was depressed for two years... This is why I do not disturb any religious person that leave me alone. Some of them have a compulsion to convert others to their views.
@@TeaParty1776 You never had any religion or belief and thats ok. You might have been more intelligent than most children. Most children will believe just about anything their parents tell them at the age of 10 years old. I spent 20 years praying and god ignored my wants and needs time after time. If god is real, he's doing a piss poor job in every area.
@@fatherdamien69 The key is the choice to focus or evade, not intelligence. God is a rationalization of evasion. Mans life needs a focused mind. Atlas Shrugged-Ayn Rand; the role of the mind in mans life
@@TeaParty1776 Ayn Rand is a popular choice among those with antisocial personality disorders and an undeveloped sense of empathy; those lacking empathy for their fellow human being will see merit in maintaining a disconnect from others of their species in order to solely focus on their own well-being.
@@rikk319 Keep in mind that in the times before and the life of the mythical Christ most people had no empathy for others they were not related to or not known to them. People lived from day to day and on the edge of existence for centuries. Today, because of Judaism and its invention, Christianity, have Christians gradually over centuries leaned more with more empathy toward the feelings and emotions of one another as rabbis have laid out in the gentile bible. As the facts about Christianity are being revealed and more and more people are disregarding it as myth, these feelings of empathy are being destroyed by politicians and preachers who preach the fear of death and the wages of sin while many more of us become homeless and trapped in a never ending cycle of poverty.
The thing is, he was so gracious to those who wanted to pray for him at his end. He never took it as an insult, he was very kind to them, and respected their need to express their love in that way. And he never altered his belief system up to his own deathbed.
Why would he need to alter his belief system on his deathbed? The fact that most religions instill irrational fear of death in their followers only proves how intrinsically cruel and deceitful they are. All religions are simply organized insanity that get perpetrated and perpetuated on each new generation as a means of control. There's absolutely no evidence that there's a god that created mankind, yet there's volumes of evidence to prove that man created god.
Compare Hitchen’s eloquence and rationality with the obscurantist blathering of that confused pretence of a philosopher, Jordan Peterson. Chalk and cheese.
If that's true would you like to explain to me foreknowledge in the Bible? The facts that the Earth is round and that it free floats on nothing and the facts that the Bible affirms entropy and the first and second laws of thermodynamics among many many other things. If it can do all that I would say that Jesus would be the appropriate source of salvation.
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@kenlott263 I owe no-one an explanation for my beliefs or lack thereof.
@@kenlott263Easy. People weren't as stupid as you think they were. Even the most intelligent people fall for the false ideals of religion as well. People are afraid of hard times and death so they created false deities to protect their minds from being damaged but that's how you know there is a God because people INSTINCTUALLY create deities in every culture. It's DEFINITELY not the God of the Bible though seeing as half of the NT or more is made up and the OT God only cared about the Israelites.
There is no foreknowledge in the Bible that's an editing scam. The Bible talks about a round FLAT planet like a dinner plate. It was clearly written by flat Earth peoples. Please do some research before repeating these junk apologetics again.
I don't know how any religious person can look around the world and say that the world now is a better place because of religion. I think it is clearly apparent that it is quite the opposite, not just in the Middle East which is currently at a flash point, but look at who the religious followers elected as our next president of the USA.
@@davedismantled Governments, at least in democracies, are chosen by the people. In oligarchies, they're chosen by the wealthy. Guess which one we've had in the United States for some time.
@@davedismantled Without government, it's a free-for-all. Warlords and mafia-style coercion. I've been to countries where an underfunded government exist. The poverty and infrastructure are horrible.
How can a world be a better place when people choose to be evil, and wicked over righteousness in the eyes of God.
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Can't remember who said it, but "if all books and knowledge about religion and science were destroyed, the science would return essentially the same as before. None of the religious knowledge would". That about sums it up
@@patriciadechamps3169 When man has no absolute morality, his mind disintegrates. This is so painful that religion is the historical default. The alterrnative is the integrated mind of Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism
@@TeaParty1776 Morality is subjective, because it arises from our human instincts as a social species. That's what the word "subjective" means, doesn't it? It depends on the subject, in this case humans. What you're proposing instead is nothing more than blind authoritarian obedience. That would be reprehensible in any case, but becomes truly bizarre in the case of an nonexistent authority.
@uthman2281 you just proved you've no reading comprehension islam is also religion. Also can't you see that muhammad used the bible for the Quran because isn't it coincidence that muhammad, just like mozes got god's commandments in the middle of nowhere without any witnesses?
He was ok, but he was no Nikola Tesla or Albert Einstein. Its not like Hitches was some great inventor like Thomas Edison or Benjamin Franklin. He was just a negative religion basher. Its not like he made people come together in oneness and love like Ghandi was able to do. Hitchens was an intelligent man yes but not one of the greatest minds that ever existed. Not even close.
I am an Atheist ⚛️ I do not believe in the existence of God. There is no evidence to support the belief in any gods or supernatural entities. I rely on science, reason, logic, and empirical evidence to form my worldview and have not found compelling evidence or arguments to support the existence of God. The universe is governed by natural laws and forces, rather than moral, spiritual, or supernatural ones. As an atheist, I reject religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basis of morality and decision-making. I emphasize the social and empirical nature of inquiry and prioritize scientific solutions to intellectual problems. There is an intrinsic intellectual conflict between faith and science, and that it inevitably leads to hostility. I am engaged in a continually evolving search for truth, primarily through science and philosophy.
The believers will never be able to present evidence for their god until they are able to present a clear valid definition of their god ( valid meaning a definition that contains no logical fallacies or unproven assertions)
I'm with you. Ricky Gervais made a wonderful observation. If you get rid of all the religious books and science books, in 1,000 years all of the science books would come back in the same form because all of the same tests/experiments would confirm the same information. You can not make the same statement with regard to religious books. Religious books would come back as people want to write them. I find that very comforting.
There is plenty of evidence, but you don't want to know about it. I guess you have never heard of Padre Pio or Ramakrishna, Ramana Maharshi or Ananda Mayi Ma
@@tapuit1 Padre Pio was a fraud, he used acid to fake his stigmata. And there's no evidence that supports the others had true spiritual experiences. They are unverifiable claims.
@@harrymillon3340 Science gave us all of that knowledge and technology, not religion. Religion kept mankind in the Dark Ages for centuries and then science brought us enlightenment.
@ no, thats not true and is proof you have been taken in and deluded. religion developed society to be able to create technology. god is electric. religion brought enlightenment. the dark ages came about through collapse of order. religion brought us out of it and nurtured the prosperous development known as the renaissance. since then the dark minds of the anti religious have returned us to a dark age. take a look around. without the light of religion you are living in darkness thinking its normal. you just dont see it. turn on the light and you will. sorry but thats how it is
"...go to any church you like, build any church you want, do it with your own money. Don't ask the government to teach this stuff to my children in the government school." - I love this.
I like the point that it's basing one's life on the first and worst attempt to understand the nature of reality. Humanity had developed so much, and still people cling to iron age ideologies.
"Something was torn away from me before I was born." Some of the most poignant words in my mother's journal before she died were, "I feel like something was taken away from me when I was little, and I never got it back." Daniel Quinn in his 2 books, Ishmael and The Story of B writes about this phenomena with intelligence and creativity. He calls the beginning of our Abrahamic civilization the time of the 'Great Forgetting'.
@@matthew3136 , and those pesky aliens of other worlds...although, highly probable they do exist, just the vast distances of Stars and exo-planets prevents ever getting to meet or even know about each others existence. If they are, or have been here, I would think that they're too smart to ever let us catch them!
_The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but how it thinks._ -- Christopher Hitchens Beautifully and aptly expressed. Thank you for that.
What I wouldn't give to hear this man say what's going on in American politics and with democracy right now. What advice would he give us? And a quip about Trump?
We need this Man... Now... More than Ever! Because there are droves of people who are giving up on Critical Thinking altogether! Preferring to go back to the Dark Ages!
@@dannym5598 I think you've been brainwashed into believing preposterous concepts that have absolutely no credibility. Is it because you're afraid of your own mortality or because you feel warm and fuzzy believing there's a loving creator that actually cares for you?
Christopher Hitchens was such a great person. This is an excellent introduction to HItchens, and I still love watching his debates with various apologists for religion. I really wish he were still alive.
Do you believe in government? If so, you have religion. Your god is government, your belief system is based on the legitimacy of authority (some people commanding other people and punishing them for not obeying). Your priests are politicians and you conduct rituals just like other religions (voting, parliamentary procedures, swearing in, etc). The true path is, as always, in the middle. Not Theist and not Atheist - but Deist. The powers that be always want people in one extreme of belief or the other. As for "authority" it is as illegitimate and illusory as the gods put forth by the Bible, the Quaran, the Talmud or any other human written religious text that espouses a similar god.
@Glenn7 Religion, according to Swami Rama Tirtha, is "that advanced state of mind, in which peace, felicity, spiritual Bliss, Satya-guna (Truth, equanimity and cheerfulness), large-heartedness, universal love, power and knowledge of Self become spontaneous and natural."
I knew by age 7 or 8 I didn't believe. However, I had to go to boarding school in the late 70's. We were forced to go to church by the council. I loathed every single second. I put 1/2p or 1/2 cent each Sunday during the school year till 1981. So probably about £3 $3 over the years, and that's still too much.
There have been 18,000+ gods worshipped since the beginning of mankind...some lasted for many thousands of years like the sun god Ra...God's come and go quite quickly in the history of mankind ..
Yeah...at some point you'd think that the endless variations on the argument of "divine hiddenness" to excuse the thousands of mutually exclusive invisible evidence-free gods and creation stories would be so tired and empty that god beliefs would have disappeared centuries ago.
Yes, religious activity goes back up to 200,000 years as evidenced by artifacts, cave paintings and ritual burials. Someone did an interesting chart on the evolution of religion, which I always ask believers of current religions why would their god(s) show up so late in human history? Why leave early man to worship a variety of false sky gods and remain silent and hidden? Then only to show up so late, and in the most confusing manner.
I actually have a dictionary of gods. There are several thousand listed. Some of the believers in these gods are actually posting in these comments. They're attracted like flies to any whiff of non-belief in their favorite fantasy.
@@MG-ot2yr Yes, our ancestors invented the god concept long before we were even fully homo sapiens. We KNOW that they invented the god concept to explain a natural world they couldn't understand, we KNOW that nature doesn't work that way, we KNOW their gods never existed: we know THAT the god concept was invented, and we know WHY. We KNOW there are no gods and never were. The believer sees empty bath water and insists there just MUST be an invisible baby in there somewhere. The agnostic sees the empty bath water, knows full well there's no baby in it, but - like the undecided voter who can't decide between a pile of steaming diarrhea and a field of fresh flowers - is still on the fence about it. I don't know whether it's the agnostic or the liberal believer who irritates me more....
@@ObservantHistorian Research into the human mind shows that some people are predisposed to religious belief. For a lot of us not predisposed to it, we were indoctrinated by it since birth and had to escape it. Fortunately, we have the internet where we can see we're not the only ones who got away from the ridiculous claims of religion.
The idea that a book-a creation of human thought and culture-could demand belief for organized religion while putting down humanity as worthless is pretty ridiculous. It’s a slap in the face to our potential, creativity, and worth. You’re not some pitiful, groveling being; you’re worthy of admiration, including your own. Celebrate your existence, your mind, and your humanity, and don’t buy into the nonsense of anyone trying to put you down. Never let any faith make you feel less than amazing. I’ve been sharing this everywhere because I think it’s important.
My mother was a welsh Baptist and she was a wonderfull mother, my father was a east end catholic. My father said the children must be Catholics, my wonderful mother said on my dead body they will they will be welsh baptist and if there not it will be left up to them when they grow up they will decide themselves. Neither of them new what a wonderful gift they were giving to there children. That was over 80 years ago my so sister and brother and myself are non believers. My wife is a non believer my two sons are non believers. My sisters kids are non believers my bother had no children. I believe that no parents should have the right to decide whether there children should have a religion. And to cut children’s body’s in the name of faith should be outlawed. Most wars are religious but if young people were left to decide there own lives how peacefully life would be. It should be there right not there parents right to believe in what they want to believe. Life is for living not warmongering like there parents so give them a great gift freedom to choose there own lives just like us.🤗💫 🤗❤️❤️❤️ Jon Joany and Davidxxx
Religion is a manmade comfort. There's no basis of reality attached to it. I'm all for making people feel good. If it makes you happy, by all means do it. It's not for me in anyway,shape, or form.
Exactly. Religions are simply Bronze Age, tribal cults, wherein each one believes they're the only ones with the right answers to everything. Meanwhile, science is bringing answers to many of those, once unanswerable, questions.
Brain washing of the children bothers me the most. They have no chance to make their own choices. I have nine grand children and four greats and they are all in it. Nothing I can do.
A great man indeed, thanks for sharing. 💙 The problem with that speech is that it only serves to confirm atheists in their position. (Which is always good) For just as rational people will not accept irrational beliefs, rational demonstrations will fail to convince irrational people.
Some people say the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing everybody that he didn't exist! I believe his greatest trick was convincing everybody that he works for God under a different name. The most evil people to have ever lived in the world use their religion as a shield or mask to hide their evil deeds. Not all religious people are evil but some of the most religious people are
I think the acceptance of death and decay and the the fact that life was and is-brutish and short for millions makes the miracle and hope of the Incarnation even more wonderful "Love made we welcome but my soul grew back guilty of dust and sin "
I just read Dr John C Wathey's book, The Illusion of God's Presence... he's a neurologist who has identified the planet wide roots of religions... there are two basic instincts in humans that guide the development of religions, regardless of culture. This is a very fascinating book, and I recommend it to everyone interested in the causes of religious beliefs. 🎉
Very enlighting and honest. "Tomorrow if science might prove that a God exists, I could be accepting of that, but should science tomorrow prove that God does not exist in the manner and form that many people believe, then I fear that result and outcome more than mine".
Thank you Christopher so much for freeing my mind from the delusion of fake god!!! I never met you, but you have helped me more than any religious person by explaining the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. I miss you Christopher Hitchens. A genuinely honest man.
I own a cat, and I strongly believe people who don't own cats should be called afelineists. Owning a cat really works for me, so other people have to own cats too. My cat teaches me to be caring and compassionate. So obviously people without cats cannot be caring or compassionate. Edit; I think a lot of people are missing the fact, that I'm using a satirical metaphor, to point out the absurdity of religion and the attitudes of theists about their beliefs. As well as their opinions toward people who don't adhere to their specific ideologies.
"religion is for the weak minded" jesse ventura lol. iwas born into a religious family i believed all that nonsense since i reached the age of reason. most of the problems are due to religion as our deaths. if your a sinner god will send you to hell where there is everlasting fire and torture and burning, but he loves you lol.
Remember the time when people didn't know where the sun went at night? That's when religion was spawned by a self-made clusterfuck of storytellers talking about an invisible man in the sky.
@@elviejodelmar2795 -Well, you've confused me.- Hitch spoke of other religions but you'll understand it's not meaningful to talk of religions which haven't reached one's local radar.
Humans invented gods for explaining what they could not understand. Religions were developed to take and keep power over people by using those superstitions.
I agree with Christopher. However - religion and god is not dead. There are more god believers now than ever before in the history of humanity. Alas most humans prefer being deluded.
Religious people defining meaning and morality “outside of themselves” is hollow. What’s really happening is religious people are saying what that meaning is and what is moral or immoral. So it’s actually coming from “inside themselves”. Or else from inside of someone else who preaches it or writes it down. Claiming it’s from a god is just shifting it along, like claiming it’s coming from aunt Betty.
So you believe that all religions were written directly from god? There was no human input? Morality didn’t come from human ideas of right and wrong? Meaning is only derived from a human being “doing Gods work “? My opinion is that every human has their own personal morality and meaning, but not all humans express it.
@@dannym5598 Pretending to know things they don't know is the lifeblood of faith based Religions. Just picture going back a hundred generations of your Family, in no more than a hundred conversations you are going to meet someone who thinks that sacrificing your first born Child just might be a good way to control the Weather, some of you might not have to go back that far, you just have to go Home for Xmas..... Just think how good a Book the Bible would be if it were Authored by the "Creator of the Universe", there is not a single sentence in any Book of the Bible that could not have been written by someone living in the Iron Age, not withstanding the fact that no person living at that time had any concept of the World as it truly is, this is a problem for claiming that this is the "best Book we have"... The age of subscribing to the dictates of Parables, Prose, Fantasies and Fables, prescribed by morality signalling hypocrites who presume to speak on behalf of a Celestial Patriarch, in whose "name" they cast aspersions, judgement, condemnation and prejudice, while claiming that these are "God's verdict", is over. Consciousness has recognised an authentic awareness of progressive, evolving knowledge and that intellectual honesty is the guardian of freedom, from the conceit and contrivances of an ultimatum based superstitious hysteria, promoted by people who claim the authority of fabricated pieces of primeval Myth and Fiction, and want Humanity to believe that these are "Divine", that I won't have, and it is the original repudiation. The first rebellion against Mental Slavery comes from saying ; it is Man-made, it is Not "Divine". What is written in the Bible is clearly not the best that Humanity is capable of in the ethical domain.
@@dannym5598 Seriously, you think Religious dogma is a reflection on reality...? Pretending to know things they don't know is the lifeblood of faith based Religions. Just picture going back a hundred generations of your Family, in no more than a hundred conversations you are going to meet someone who thinks that sacrificing your first born Child just might be a good way to control the Weather, some of you might not need to go back that far, you just have to go Home for Xmas..... What is written in the Bible is clearly not the best that Humanity is capable of in the ethical domain.
Freeing ourselves from faith is so empowering. Our view of life is opened and the problems we face become solvable through thought, science and cooperation.
Agreed with your statement. 👍🏻
Thank you I will certainly use science to solve my child's eating habits. Especially chewing gum and eating cookies and candy....
Christopher you don't know Jehovah.Judges 9
New International Version
Abimelek
9 Abimelek son of Jerub-Baal went to his mother’s brothers in Shechem and said to them and to all his mother’s clan, 2
@@LennyCooke636you should. Science has correctly identified what should be part of a healthy diet. But maybe religion knows better about diet.
@@matthew3136modern science was birthed in a Christian university and hospitals were born because of people following Christ words about doing charitable acts. Tending the sick. Watch Jesus, the Game Changer and get back to me.
I went to strict Catholic school, we were taught fear. At about 10 I saw the light, stopped believing, now I don’t live with that fear, I feel liberated. I still believe in kindness towards my fellow humans, I try to do no wrong, love most people, do my best to be a better person. It does not take religion to teach me that.
True. Marcus Aurelius and the Stoics are a great guide to how men can live noble useful lives without the need for religion. They accepted the existence of the universe and wete reconciled to make the best of the puny lives we are granted by the force of nature.
Without out a God, doing the right thing is subjective.
@@dannym5598 All scriptures including the Quran came out of the mouths of men and were written down by the hands of men and were compiled and edited by yet other men. No god has ever been seen writing anything.
@@dannym5598 Even with a god or gods the right thing is subjective and man made.
Believing in god the creator of all and one for all comforts our minds than anything else!
I miss him so much. I've never seen such eloquence in my life from anyone else. He taught me a lot. Miss you, Hitch!
I guess he must have been impressive in person because he certainly is not brilliant or intellectually honest. The fact most of his fans are atheists may impact whether his errors can be identified easily. He is more impressive when you agree with him.
It's so good he left us so much wisdom to continue to learn from.
I've only discovered him in recent years, so I'm glad and proud to be taking in these wise words, and keeping his legacy alive.
@@MadHax-wt5tl The equivalent of a Satan's Personifications MOUTHPIECE as in THE ABSENCE OF GOD IN THE HEART AND MIND OF MAN. Enjoy the "LAKE OF FIRE" first thing you will when you "Kaput". HE REALLY DON'T NEED you "Belief" in HIM, "BREATH" no charge, true "FREEDOM" with missed Lessons and all.
@@MadHax-wt5tl Like George Carlin, he went Uh-oh, 3 seconds if that after he "Kaput" when he learned he was plucked out of HELL, left the "LAKE OF FIRE" and his abundant Satan colleagues hiding behind an INDOCTRINATION of their skin color and it's variations.
@@lightatthecape2009 you don't have to be brilliant to be an atheist. You don't have to be a scientist or a philosopher. Its the evidence lacking that makes me a non believer. I wish some times there was a god who cared and loved. I guess I'll find out when I die.
The foundation of all gods:
1.Enormous fear of unknown.
2.Enourmous lack of knowledge.
3.Enourmous hunger for power and/or money.
Not in many beliefs.
@dannym5598 in every belief. Fear is belief!
Sad that it's nearly 13 years since he died but always a pleasure to hear him again.
Carl Sagan once wrote, For me it's far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion however satisfying and reassuring.
The scientists cannot explain the origins of life on earth so now they are saying it came here on an asteroid. It explains nothing.
@@heliandme And a being that rides on a cloud made a doll from mud, blew in its nose and voila, life was created explains it all to you?
@@MrGoogelaar Science can't.
@@heliandme science hasn't yet. And even is science is wrong, ie evolution was false, theist still have to prove god.
@@chamicels Give us time....Christ will be back, and all will see.
Hitchins is a great thinker . Bold too!🎉
Religion is a huge industry in America. However, without guilt, there could be no religion.
US religion, like EVERYTHING in the USA is about making money.
"God needs me to have a new Ferrari for the fight against Satan!"
Right
It is a huge industry.
@@jenc7173 Frighteningly so.
A dose of reason is exactly what I needed .
Here is a dose of reasoning.
What have I really lost by believing in God and by trying to live a good moral life?
I have lost Nothing.
But if I am right in what I believe then you have lost eternal life for believing what you choose to believe;. which is not in God.
And to that I would say: That is a pretty big price to pay for your unbelief.
Beloved: We can not save, convict or convience anyone of the truth.
All we can do is share with others what we have been shown if they are receptive to it and then it is between them and the Holy Spirit as to whether or not that person will chooses to believe or not what was shared.
It is the Holy Spirit who guides a person into the truth, and convicts them of the truth if they are receptive to it, not us.
And it is Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit who draws all men unto Himself if they are willing.
To debate the issue for the sake of debate is a waste of time.
If a person is not seeking the truth they will not find it.
Therefore they will not believe.
if you seek the Lord your God who is Jesus Christ with all your heart, mind and soul you will find him.
Our mission is to study the word of God so that we can share the word of God with those who are receptive to it
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ with all of thy heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Is part of being receptive to the truth.
Rom 8:28-30 And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. 29For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified
Nicely done.
One of the greatest writers and philosophers of our time.
He is missed sorely.
Hitches does not make the top 10 thinkers, philosophers or authors. His God is Not Great contains so many blatant errors that it seems no one bothered editing the mss. I stopped counting at 24 errors others have identified some I missed. He was a piss poor researcher, who plagiarized others work, as well as being a bully who was prone to demonizing those he disliked. Perhaps his saving grace was his ability to produce pithy retorts.
Religious belief is not considered delusional by any professional mental health association anywhere on the planet. His opinion is his own and often conflicts with hard facts and data.
@@lightatthecape2009you can’t demonize someone when you don’t believe in demons. There are likely millions of people who agree with his philosophy so his opinions are not just his own. Your ignorance is perhaps exceeded only by your extreme bias.
@@lightatthecape2009, everyone is an "Atheist".
@@kurtdvet I recommend you drop the hero worship and learn to think a bit more independently. Hitchens has been criticized by atheists and theists because of sloppy research, plagiarism, and lack of balance.
@ and who might those critics be; you and Frank Turek? Your ability to project is impressive.
I owe Hitchens so much for helping me to get out from under the Blood Cult of Christianity!
A Blood Cult.....IT IS!!!
If you follow hitchens you will be with him one day. The Bible calls for the shedding of blood ..Jesus became our sacrifice. And I'm not talking about religion I'm talking about a relationship with Jesus. You know the Bible affirms entropy and the first and second laws of thermodynamics among many other issues that scientist have only found out a few hundred years ago or so. The Earth is circular we are told in the Bible and it free floats on nothing we are also told. If you want to follow this fool go right ahead I'll pray for you right now.
@@kenlott263 You are psychological delusional, and I know you cannot understand true logic and common sense. The bible is analogy and not a historical document and why I chose not to follow it. If you were to study real anthropology outside the walls of your belief system then you would know Hell was an invention of the first pope of Rome....so I am not worried and thanx for your worthless prayers.
@kenlott263 ahh a blood cult member🤣
Whatever it takes
12:06 The essence of Christopher Hitchens on the matter of religion lies not in what he says (for it has all been said before, albeit in poorer, less succinct and less eloquent style) but how he says it. His gift for summation, for clarity and for sheer linguistic brilliance are, I believe, unequaled. Certainly at least, never bettered.
Greatly appreciate the explanations of Christopher Hitchens
There was no specific day or epiphany, but since youth I questioned the entire concept of God and religion. The hate that is inherent in most organized religions/churches/faith served to drive me even further away. My study of science and engineering laid bare the truth. I miss the comfort of believing in God, but cannot ignore the truth.
Same. I dont think you NEED an epiphany if you knew the real thing in your heart the whole time. For me it was like an allergy to something finally went away. Imagine my entire community had red itchy skin or a runny nose all day and told me this is NORMAL. Then I just moved to a place where they didnt plant that flower or whatever and I woke up clear headed. A little scared cause I was used to my tissue box and Zyrtec habbit, but...clear
@@matthewanipen2418 A very interesting way to put this.
At 15 I read the Bible out of desperation to believe, as I had been brainwashed since a kid to believe in God. None of it made sense, and it was always an excuse, "because God" after two baptisms, and months of 1 on 1s with preachers going nowhere, I read the Bible. I was convinced by the Bible, that God isn't real, and neither is organized religion. Most Christians have never read the Bible cover to cover, because that would expose their mind to the lunacy, and depravity in the bible
I can see that faith in a God is a comfort for some people, but it is a very childlike concept. The parallels with believing in Santa Claus are all there, a benevolent magical father figure, who knows about everything you do, and only bestows gifts on you if you behave. If you still truly believed in Santa as an adult you would need some serious help, and yet religious belief is socially accepted and devoting your life to an invisible friend in the sky is still accommodated as normal. Seems we will be forever dragged back to the ignorance of our ancestors by revered religious texts that make a virtue of not questioning them.
I did have an epiphany. It was in my twenties and I had always been a devout Christian. One day I was praying and I had the revelation that there was no god of any kind anywhere. Nothing. It took me several years of anguished searching to work out a moral code for myself that was not based on Christianity.
I remember my college teacher was writing a book on Hitler to publish. He visited Spandau prison and interviewed one of Hitlers hench men Rudolf Hess. he asked him why he followed Hitler. Hess's response is telling as why people do horrible things in the name of Religion or a tyrant. he said, You could not understand Hitler you had to feel him. In other words it was an emotional attachment that circumvented logic and reason. No different than religion of any kind. The Catholics say give us your young child, you can have them back but they will always be ours.
faith is just the appendix of the mind - useful for people in the past a danger for people today !
good quote
I disagree.
@@dannym5598 Disagree with what? That remark is highly accurate.
@@Spiritof_76 No it is not,
@@dannym5598 Refute it with some facts, not a baseless claim.
I am grateful for this man. I was never religious at all in my life but he took me to the position on Anti-theist. The fact that not only is religion almost certainly wrong but the fact that it’s dangerous and seriously immoral. Thank you Christopher Hitchens.
according to yu
Imo the only way you get to antitheism is by stereotyping the religious cherry picking history and the Bible.
@@uthman2281no according to religion. If you read the holy texts it’s not difficult to see that it’s dangerous and immoral
@@jackabernethy108
based on what?
on your opinion.
@@uthman2281 well yes mine and many others. For example mutilating the genitals of children for religious reasons is immoral as it’s done make sex less enjoyable and also the fact that the child can’t consent to it. Let’s see what else oh yes the fact that the catholic church stated that condoms could spread HIV aids which is obvious nonsense. Teaching children that if they turn out to be gay they will go to hell and burn forever. To teach junk science especially in America like creationism instead of evolution despite all the evidence being in evolution’s favour. Final reason why I’m an Anti-theist and why most atheists will be is that we don’t want it to be true that there is a supreme being who makes you, owns you, supervises you waking and sleeping. Who knows your personal most private thoughts and can convict you of thought crime for that not only while you are awake but while you are sleeping. As Hitchens said “A celestial North Korea” why does anyone wish this was true? If you somehow think any of the above is good and not immoral or dangerous then I will avoid you definitely.
When i lost my faith at age 17, I was depressed for two years...
This is why I do not disturb any religious person that leave me alone. Some of them have a compulsion to convert others to their views.
When I was less than 10 yrs old, my mother told me to pray. I thought that there was nobody to pray to. That was the beginning and end of my religion.
@@TeaParty1776 You never had any religion or belief and thats ok. You might have been more intelligent than most children. Most children will believe just about anything their parents tell them at the age of 10 years old. I spent 20 years praying and god ignored my wants and needs time after time. If god is real, he's doing a piss poor job in every area.
@@fatherdamien69 The key is the choice to focus or evade, not intelligence. God is a rationalization of evasion. Mans life needs a focused mind.
Atlas Shrugged-Ayn Rand; the role of the mind in mans life
@@TeaParty1776 Ayn Rand is a popular choice among those with antisocial personality disorders and an undeveloped sense of empathy; those lacking empathy for their fellow human being will see merit in maintaining a disconnect from others of their species in order to solely focus on their own well-being.
@@rikk319 Keep in mind that in the times before and the life of the mythical Christ most people had no empathy for others they were not related to or not known to them. People lived from day to day and on the edge of existence for centuries. Today, because of Judaism and its invention, Christianity, have Christians gradually over centuries leaned more with more empathy toward the feelings and emotions of one another as rabbis have laid out in the gentile bible. As the facts about Christianity are being revealed and more and more people are disregarding it as myth, these feelings of empathy are being destroyed by politicians and preachers who preach the fear of death and the wages of sin while many more of us become homeless and trapped in a never ending cycle of poverty.
The thing is, he was so gracious to those who wanted to pray for him at his end. He never took it as an insult, he was very kind to them, and respected their need to express their love in that way. And he never altered his belief system up to his own deathbed.
Why would he need to alter his belief system on his deathbed? The fact that most religions instill irrational fear of death in their followers only proves how intrinsically cruel and deceitful they are. All religions are simply organized insanity that get perpetrated and perpetuated on each new generation as a means of control.
There's absolutely no evidence that there's a god that created mankind, yet there's volumes of evidence to prove that man created god.
Every utterance was brilliant to its core. What a pleasure to hear a rational mind expressing ideas with such precision. Hitchens was a joy to behold.
He's words don't compare to Christ Words. .
Compare Hitchen’s eloquence and rationality with the obscurantist blathering of that confused pretence of a philosopher, Jordan Peterson. Chalk and cheese.
You sound just like one of these foolish idiots. Acts chapter 12 verse 21 -23
So do you think Hitchens speaks better than Herod?
Man created god out of fear and ignorance.
If that's true would you like to explain to me foreknowledge in the Bible? The facts that the Earth is round and that it free floats on nothing and the facts that the Bible affirms entropy and the first and second laws of thermodynamics among many many other things. If it can do all that I would say that Jesus would be the appropriate source of salvation.
@kenlott263 I owe no-one an explanation for my beliefs or lack thereof.
@@kenlott263Easy. People weren't as stupid as you think they were. Even the most intelligent people fall for the false ideals of religion as well.
People are afraid of hard times and death so they created false deities to protect their minds from being damaged but that's how you know there is a God because people INSTINCTUALLY create deities in every culture.
It's DEFINITELY not the God of the Bible though seeing as half of the NT or more is made up and the OT God only cared about the Israelites.
There is no foreknowledge in the Bible that's an editing scam. The Bible talks about a round FLAT planet like a dinner plate. It was clearly written by flat Earth peoples.
Please do some research before repeating these junk apologetics again.
@@kenlott263sadly, this doesn't open their eyes.
I don't know how any religious person can look around the world and say that the world now is a better place because of religion. I think it is clearly apparent that it is quite the opposite, not just in the Middle East which is currently at a flash point, but look at who the religious followers elected as our next president of the USA.
What do you mean by better?
Is the world a better place because of the religion of Statism (the belief in government)?
@@davedismantled Governments, at least in democracies, are chosen by the people. In oligarchies, they're chosen by the wealthy. Guess which one we've had in the United States for some time.
@@davedismantled Without government, it's a free-for-all. Warlords and mafia-style coercion. I've been to countries where an underfunded government exist. The poverty and infrastructure are horrible.
How can a world be a better place when people choose to be evil, and wicked over righteousness in the eyes of God.
Can't remember who said it, but "if all books and knowledge about religion and science were destroyed, the science would return essentially the same as before. None of the religious knowledge would". That about sums it up
I think Ricky Gervais said that.
@@patriciadechamps3169 When man has no absolute morality, his mind disintegrates. This is so painful that religion is the historical default. The alterrnative is the integrated mind of Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism
@@TeaParty1776
Morality is subjective, because it arises from our human instincts as a social species. That's what the word "subjective" means, doesn't it? It depends on the subject, in this case humans.
What you're proposing instead is nothing more than blind authoritarian obedience. That would be reprehensible in any case, but becomes truly bizarre in the case of an nonexistent authority.
Not true.
There will be the Quran
@uthman2281 you just proved you've no reading comprehension islam is also religion.
Also can't you see that muhammad used the bible for the Quran because isn't it coincidence that muhammad, just like mozes got god's commandments in the middle of nowhere without any witnesses?
I long to hear Hitchens voice again. The only supernatural element I would want. Its needed now more than ever.
Hitchens, One of the greatest minds that ever existed
Which was wasted on constant sophistry.
@@thepalegalilean I would say that is incorrect. What he has to say has 100% relevance if we are to survive as a species and a society.
He was ok, but he was no Nikola Tesla or Albert Einstein. Its not like Hitches was some great inventor like Thomas Edison or Benjamin Franklin. He was just a negative religion basher. Its not like he made people come together in oneness and love like Ghandi was able to do. Hitchens was an intelligent man yes but not one of the greatest minds that ever existed. Not even close.
@@thepalegalilean Making an assertion without backing it up is sophistry.
How?
I really miss Hitchens! What an absolutely brilliant man! Quite a loss. 💗
The Man, The Myth, The Legend ... The Great Christopher Hitchens. There won't be another like him for quite some time, if ever.
I am an Atheist ⚛️
I do not believe in the existence of God. There is no evidence to support the belief in any gods or supernatural entities. I rely on science, reason, logic, and empirical evidence to form my worldview and have not found compelling evidence or arguments to support the existence of God. The universe is governed by natural laws and forces, rather than moral, spiritual, or supernatural ones. As an atheist, I reject religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basis of morality and decision-making. I emphasize the social and empirical nature of inquiry and prioritize scientific solutions to intellectual problems. There is an intrinsic intellectual conflict between faith and science, and that it inevitably leads to hostility. I am engaged in a continually evolving search for truth, primarily through science and philosophy.
The believers will never be able to present evidence for their god until they are able to present a clear valid definition of their god ( valid meaning a definition that contains no logical fallacies or unproven assertions)
I'm with you. Ricky Gervais made a wonderful observation. If you get rid of all the religious books and science books, in 1,000 years all of the science books would come back in the same form because all of the same tests/experiments would confirm the same information. You can not make the same statement with regard to religious books. Religious books would come back as people want to write them. I find that very comforting.
I stand with you. - former Christian pastor
There is plenty of evidence, but you don't want to know about it. I guess you have never heard of Padre Pio or Ramakrishna, Ramana Maharshi or Ananda Mayi Ma
@@tapuit1 Padre Pio was a fraud, he used acid to fake his stigmata. And there's no evidence that supports the others had true spiritual experiences. They are unverifiable claims.
In the words of archie bunker. Religion is believing in something no one in their right mind would believe in.
Like hand held phones, television etc.? Childbirth is no mystery at all to you is it?
My fav from Archie: "Edith, God does not make mistakes. That is how he got to be God."
@@harrymillon3340 Science gave us all of that knowledge and technology, not religion. Religion kept mankind in the Dark Ages for centuries and then science brought us enlightenment.
@ no, thats not true and is proof you have been taken in and deluded. religion developed society to be able to create technology. god is electric. religion brought enlightenment. the dark ages came about through collapse of order. religion brought us out of it and nurtured the prosperous development known as the renaissance. since then the dark minds of the anti religious have returned us to a dark age. take a look around. without the light of religion you are living in darkness thinking its normal. you just dont see it. turn on the light and you will. sorry but thats how it is
The truly noble Christopher Hitchens. All honor to his memory.
I've never heard some of this clips before, this is a really good video 👌🏻
"...go to any church you like, build any church you want, do it with your own money. Don't ask the government to teach this stuff to my children in the government school." - I love this.
Religion is faith in ignorance.
Exactly.
I like the point that it's basing one's life on the first and worst attempt to understand the nature of reality.
Humanity had developed so much, and still people cling to iron age ideologies.
THE religious are far from ignorant. In fact they tend to outnumber atheists in percentage with post grad research.
@@lightatthecape2009 What, globally in every collage and university in the world.
Or just in the ones you paid attention to.
@@lightatthecape2009and yet believe in fairytales and myth……..
"Something was torn away from me before I was born." Some of the most poignant words in my mother's journal before she died were, "I feel like something was taken away from me when I was little, and I never got it back." Daniel Quinn in his 2 books, Ishmael and The Story of B writes about this phenomena with intelligence and creativity. He calls the beginning of our Abrahamic civilization the time of the 'Great Forgetting'.
I converted to only one thing, the metric system. That's enough for my lifetime.
If you convert back from the metric system, you'll have to do it 25.4 times!
He, he!
@@larrygarland3728 Lol
"I don't always use the metric system. But when I do, I'm buying drugs."
Proper patriots use miles, Fahrenheit and ounces.
@@anthonymeade7345 , What do units of measurements have to do with "Patriotism"?
Maybe you were joking?
Religions have had thousands of years to justify themselves, yet the best comment they have is “tradition”!
GOD - The world '' hide n seek '' champion.
Bigfoot also wins many local hide and seek tournaments.
@@matthew3136 , and those pesky aliens of other worlds...although, highly probable they do exist, just the vast distances of Stars and exo-planets prevents ever getting to meet or even know about each others existence.
If they are, or have been here, I would think that they're too smart to ever let us catch them!
@@matthew3136 I don't think anybody actually worships or preys to Bigfoot though.
_The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but how it thinks._
-- Christopher Hitchens
Beautifully and aptly expressed. Thank you for that.
What I wouldn't give to hear this man say what's going on in American politics and with democracy right now. What advice would he give us? And a quip about Trump?
Hear Chris Hedges and Richard Wolfe.😊
We need this Man... Now... More than Ever! Because there are droves of people who are giving up on Critical Thinking altogether! Preferring to go back to the Dark Ages!
Hitchens was just brilliant!!
Religion in a nutshell, "My invisible friend thinks you have terrible issues."
Is there an organized archive of all Hitchens-debates?
Google is you best bet.
BRILLIANT, I'll tell all the members of my congregation about these findings !
Oh goodie! Could you please let us know when and where your findings will be spoken?
I have never witnessed a stoning to death. (in person.)
Cheers!
Join the clubbin.
Good luck with that!
@@larrygarland3728 I hear the Taliban are once again stoning women for adultery and other acts of disobedience.
Looking at all the different religions and cults, it's more a divide plan than a devine one.
You need work on your routine.
@@dannym5598 I think you've been brainwashed into believing preposterous concepts that have absolutely no credibility. Is it because you're afraid of your own mortality or because you feel warm and fuzzy believing there's a loving creator that actually cares for you?
I could listen to his eloquent speeches all day long. What a pity he’s no longer with us. He would’ve had much to contribute to today’s world.
He ended his life prematurely by damaging his body with cigarettes, alcohol and a bad diet.
His father died of the same cancer. Probably genetic.
@derekharley7343 his father probably had the same lifestyle.
Christopher Hitchens was such a great person. This is an excellent introduction to HItchens, and I still love watching his debates with various apologists for religion. I really wish he were still alive.
Possible the greatest Debater, so fierce so backed with logic and evidence 👏
Apologists? Get real.
Religion? No, thanks!
Strongly agree with you
Strongly agree with you
Do you believe in government? If so, you have religion. Your god is government, your belief system is based on the legitimacy of authority (some people commanding other people and punishing them for not obeying). Your priests are politicians and you conduct rituals just like other religions (voting, parliamentary procedures, swearing in, etc). The true path is, as always, in the middle. Not Theist and not Atheist - but Deist. The powers that be always want people in one extreme of belief or the other. As for "authority" it is as illegitimate and illusory as the gods put forth by the Bible, the Quaran, the Talmud or any other human written religious text that espouses a similar god.
@@davedismantledYou are confusing religion and faith… try harder.
@Glenn7 Religion, according to Swami Rama Tirtha, is "that advanced state of mind, in which peace, felicity, spiritual Bliss, Satya-guna (Truth, equanimity and cheerfulness), large-heartedness, universal love, power and knowledge of Self become spontaneous and natural."
When I finally figured out that Captain Kangaroo wasn't a real captain, I started questioning everything. By age 11 I knew there was no god.
Yup.
I knew by age 7 or 8 I didn't believe. However, I had to go to boarding school in the late 70's. We were forced to go to church by the council. I loathed every single second. I put 1/2p or 1/2 cent each Sunday during the school year till 1981. So probably about £3 $3 over the years, and that's still too much.
There have been 18,000+ gods worshipped since the beginning of mankind...some lasted for many thousands of years like the sun god Ra...God's come and go quite quickly in the history of mankind
..
Yeah...at some point you'd think that the endless variations on the argument of "divine hiddenness" to excuse the thousands of mutually exclusive invisible evidence-free gods and creation stories would be so tired and empty that god beliefs would have disappeared centuries ago.
Yes, religious activity goes back up to 200,000 years as evidenced by artifacts, cave paintings and ritual burials. Someone did an interesting chart on the evolution of religion, which I always ask believers of current religions why would their god(s) show up so late in human history? Why leave early man to worship a variety of false sky gods and remain silent and hidden? Then only to show up so late, and in the most confusing manner.
I actually have a dictionary of gods. There are several thousand listed. Some of the believers in these gods are actually posting in these comments. They're attracted like flies to any whiff of non-belief in their favorite fantasy.
@@MG-ot2yr Yes, our ancestors invented the god concept long before we were even fully homo sapiens. We KNOW that they invented the god concept to explain a natural world they couldn't understand, we KNOW that nature doesn't work that way, we KNOW their gods never existed: we know THAT the god concept was invented, and we know WHY. We KNOW there are no gods and never were.
The believer sees empty bath water and insists there just MUST be an invisible baby in there somewhere. The agnostic sees the empty bath water, knows full well there's no baby in it, but - like the undecided voter who can't decide between a pile of steaming diarrhea and a field of fresh flowers - is still on the fence about it.
I don't know whether it's the agnostic or the liberal believer who irritates me more....
@@ObservantHistorian Research into the human mind shows that some people are predisposed to religious belief. For a lot of us not predisposed to it, we were indoctrinated by it since birth and had to escape it. Fortunately, we have the internet where we can see we're not the only ones who got away from the ridiculous claims of religion.
This man was a prophet of godlessness like Nietzsche himself.
Perfectly put Hitch, "There are things we Cannot Understand."
The idea that a book-a creation of human thought and culture-could demand belief for organized religion while putting down humanity as worthless is pretty ridiculous. It’s a slap in the face to our potential, creativity, and worth. You’re not some pitiful, groveling being; you’re worthy of admiration, including your own. Celebrate your existence, your mind, and your humanity, and don’t buy into the nonsense of anyone trying to put you down. Never let any faith make you feel less than amazing.
I’ve been sharing this everywhere because I think it’s important.
What book claims that humans are worthless?
@@dann285 The bible.
@@dann285 "Without the salvation of your Creator, you're nothing."
That book.
@@dann285are you learning yet?
If we are just an accident, then there is no purpose to life.
My mother was a welsh Baptist and she was a wonderfull mother, my father was a east end catholic. My father said the children must be Catholics, my wonderful mother said on my dead body they will they will be welsh baptist and if there not it will be left up to them when they grow up they will decide themselves. Neither of them new what a wonderful gift they were giving to there children. That was over 80 years ago my so sister and brother and myself are non believers. My wife is a non believer my two sons are non believers. My sisters kids are non believers my bother had no children. I believe that no parents should have the right to decide whether there children should have a religion. And to cut children’s body’s in the name of faith should be outlawed. Most wars are religious but if young people were left to decide there own lives how peacefully life would be. It should be there right not there parents right to believe in what they want to believe. Life is for living not warmongering like there parents so give them a great gift freedom to choose there own lives just like us.🤗💫 🤗❤️❤️❤️ Jon Joany and Davidxxx
Religion is a manmade comfort. There's no basis of reality attached to it. I'm all for making people feel good. If it makes you happy, by all means do it. It's not for me in anyway,shape, or form.
Comfort?
Religion is pain, suffering, lies and murder.
Exactly. Religions are simply Bronze Age, tribal cults, wherein each one believes they're the only ones with the right answers to everything. Meanwhile, science is bringing answers to many of those, once unanswerable, questions.
Love the Hitch.. honest and gutsy!
Brain washing of the children bothers me the most. They have no chance to make their own choices.
I have nine grand children and four greats and they are all in it.
Nothing I can do.
Great edit of Hitch! The most salient points across his astounding output against religion. Thank you
Mother nature gave us a immune system give us humans a chance for survival.yes.
A great man indeed, thanks for sharing.
💙
The problem with that speech is that it only serves to confirm atheists in their position. (Which is always good)
For just as rational people will not accept irrational beliefs, rational demonstrations will fail to convince irrational people.
Not true.
This is actually a really good edit. Great music and depictions.
Some people say the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing everybody that he didn't exist! I believe his greatest trick was convincing everybody that he works for God under a different name. The most evil people to have ever lived in the world use their religion as a shield or mask to hide their evil deeds. Not all religious people are evil but some of the most religious people are
I think the acceptance of death and decay and the the fact that life was and is-brutish and short for millions makes the miracle and hope of the Incarnation even more wonderful
"Love made we welcome but my soul grew back guilty of dust and sin "
"Religion makes people bring babies into this godless and wicked world..."
David Benatar
I really like the style of the vid. Isolating his voice and that little bit of music really works 👏🏻👍🏻
Thanks
I miss Hitchens, and Sagan, every day.
When hasn't religion not been a power grab?
Hitch is the GOAT for sure
I just read Dr John C Wathey's book, The Illusion of God's Presence... he's a neurologist who has identified the planet wide roots of religions... there are two basic instincts in humans that guide the development of religions, regardless of culture.
This is a very fascinating book, and I recommend it to everyone interested in the causes of religious beliefs. 🎉
The cause is that man knows there is something outside of himself.
@@dann285 Everything external to our skin is outside of us, but there is zero actual evidence that any of it is supernatural or divine.
@@Spiritof_76 How do you know anything exist outside of yourself?
Very enlighting and honest. "Tomorrow if science might prove that a God exists, I could be accepting of that, but should science tomorrow prove that God does not exist in the manner and form that many people believe, then I fear that result and outcome more than mine".
Frightened children seeking answers that are not true.
If religion was a coin, one side would show an image of a warm and fuzzy security blanket, the other side a heavy ball and chain.
?
Hitchens was the most eloquent adversary any deity ever had!
Wow, then not much adversary then.
Thank you for showing us the way
Religion create ruthless actions
And creates acts of goodness.
@dannym5598 Unfortunately, it's 1000 to 1 cruel to kind. Look to wars for examples. How long before the next big one?😮
Great work.
Thank you Christopher so much for freeing my mind from the delusion of fake god!!! I never met you, but you have helped me more than any religious person by explaining the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. I miss you Christopher Hitchens. A genuinely honest man.
I'm a great fan of Hitchens. He crystallizes so much of what I have believed all my life.
I own a cat, and I strongly believe people who don't own cats should be called afelineists.
Owning a cat really works for me, so other people have to own cats too.
My cat teaches me to be caring and compassionate. So obviously people without cats cannot be caring or compassionate.
Edit; I think a lot of people are missing the fact, that I'm using a satirical metaphor, to point out the absurdity of religion and the attitudes of theists about their beliefs. As well as their opinions toward people who don't adhere to their specific ideologies.
what religion is that?
What a strange comment
@@Andy-wx4wx Even stranger is that 6 morons like it.
I believe your religion is called Cat-holic.😊
That depends what you believe.
Hitch is another like Sam Harris..how it's taboo to question even the most absurd religious beliefs and statements..
Adhering to Iron Age ideas of the universe is to self dilute our very modern intelligence.
Oh, Mr. Hitchens, why did you leave us so soon?
good inspirational figures
Machiavelli,Holbach,darwin,faraday,democritus
and shout out to this channel and the nice people featured here 🗿
Religion the epitome of Bonhoefer's stupidity who ironically was a priest.
Sorry. Bonhoeffer was a Protestant pastor.
As long as you do as I say, you will live forever. And billions over the centuries have believed it without evidence.
"religion is for the weak minded" jesse ventura lol. iwas born into a religious family i believed all that nonsense since i reached the age of reason. most of the problems are due to religion as our deaths. if your a sinner god will send you to hell where there is everlasting fire and torture and burning, but he loves you lol.
Remember the time when people didn't know where the sun went at night? That's when religion was spawned by a self-made clusterfuck of storytellers talking about an invisible man in the sky.
A bit of Western arrogance in identifying all religions as being the Abrahamic ones.
You really think Islam is "Western"?
@@Devious_Dave Did I say Islam was Western? Or, did I say it was Abrahmic? The arrogance is Western.
@@elviejodelmar2795 There are 3 major Abrahamic religions - do you exclude Islam?
@@Devious_Dave Please cite my words that indicated I excluded Islam from the Abrahamic religions.
@@elviejodelmar2795 -Well, you've confused me.- Hitch spoke of other religions but you'll understand it's not meaningful to talk of religions which haven't reached one's local radar.
What a great thinker and such a terrible loss to the world. His ideas are more relevant today than ever.
God is Santa Claus for adults. Grow up.
Who fears santa claus.
Hitchens is the greatest atheist who ever lived. RIP, miss you loads. 🙏
I believe in the Great Pumpkin 🎃. 😳
Fool! Everyone knows that a committee of the Blue Pixies created the universe.
Humans invented gods for explaining what they could not understand.
Religions were developed to take and keep power over people by using those superstitions.
So true.
I agree with Christopher. However - religion and god is not dead. There are more god believers now than ever before in the history of humanity. Alas most humans prefer being deluded.
There are more stupid people who believe there is a magic pie man in the sky today.
More people on Earth, not too difficult to rationalize. It doesn't make it okay.
Humans love lies and will always prefer the lie over the truth.
An interesting analysis, my question is this: without religion how do define meaning especially outside ourselves and above all morality?
Pick a religion - they seem to have many different, contradictory answers.
ALL religion makes people stupid.
Religious people defining meaning and morality “outside of themselves” is hollow. What’s really happening is religious people are saying what that meaning is and what is moral or immoral. So it’s actually coming from “inside themselves”. Or else from inside of someone else who preaches it or writes it down. Claiming it’s from a god is just shifting it along, like claiming it’s coming from aunt Betty.
So you believe that all religions were written directly from god? There was no human input? Morality didn’t come from human ideas of right and wrong? Meaning is only derived from a human being “doing Gods work “? My opinion is that every human has their own personal morality and meaning, but not all humans express it.
💔😢we love you Hitch😢💔
The Religious Myth is the most powerful device ever created and serves as the psychological soil upon which other Myths can flourish....
Myth?
@@dannym5598
Pretending to know things they don't know is the lifeblood of faith based Religions. Just picture going back a hundred generations of your Family, in no more than a hundred conversations you are going to meet someone who thinks that sacrificing your first born Child just might be a good way to control the Weather, some of you might not have to go back that far, you just have to go Home for Xmas.....
Just think how good a Book the Bible would be if it were Authored by the "Creator of the Universe", there is not a single sentence in any Book of the Bible that could not have been written by someone living in the Iron Age, not withstanding the fact that no person living at that time had any concept of the World as it truly is, this is a problem for claiming that this is the "best Book we have"...
The age of subscribing to the dictates of Parables, Prose, Fantasies and Fables, prescribed by morality signalling hypocrites who presume to speak on behalf of a Celestial Patriarch, in whose "name" they cast aspersions, judgement, condemnation and prejudice, while claiming that these are "God's verdict", is over. Consciousness has recognised an authentic awareness of progressive, evolving knowledge and that intellectual honesty is the guardian of freedom, from the conceit and contrivances of an ultimatum based superstitious hysteria, promoted by people who claim the authority of fabricated pieces of primeval Myth and Fiction, and want Humanity to believe that these are "Divine", that I won't have, and it is the original repudiation. The first rebellion against Mental Slavery comes from saying ; it is Man-made, it is Not "Divine". What is written in the Bible is clearly not the best that Humanity is capable of in the ethical domain.
@@dannym5598
Seriously, you think Religious dogma is a reflection on reality...?
Pretending to know things they don't know is the lifeblood of faith based Religions. Just picture going back a hundred generations of your Family, in no more than a hundred conversations you are going to meet someone who thinks that sacrificing your first born Child just might be a good way to control the Weather, some of you might not need to go back that far, you just have to go Home for Xmas..... What is written in the Bible is clearly not the best that Humanity is capable of in the ethical domain.
God was invented so early man could explain what it did not understand. God did it.